Aston Villa preparing ‘considerable’ bid for transformative Napoli star who’ll push Villans men out

Aston Villa are reportedly ready to make a ‘considerable offer’ for Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo, in a move which would alter the futures of some Villans.

Unai Emery has completely altered the fortunes of Villa in his first year and a half at the club. When he joined, the Midlanders were not far from dropping into the Premier League’s relegation places.

By the end of they season, they were seventh, securing European football as a result.

This term, they’re doing even better – they’re in with a good chance of reaching the Europa Conference League semi-finals, and a top-four spot is within reach, with Villa holding fourth place currently.

Emery is in line for a huge amount of praise for not only developing a lot of players already at the club, but signing people who have gelled with them very well.

The Spaniard has largely signed players who are yet to reach their primes – other than Alex Moreno who’s now 29 – in the hopes that he can help them to fulfil their full potential.

Pau Torres and Youri Tielemans, at 26, are probably the closest to reaching their best years, but 24-year-olds Moussa Diaby and Nicolo Zaniolo and 21-year-old Morgan Rogers, are prime examples of players who have begun to thrive before that point under Emery.

It seems the manager is willing to switch his attention to a player who has already had a lengthy career with some successes, in his desire to sign Napoli man Di Lorenzo.

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Villa readying ‘considerable’ Di Lorenzo offer

The Serie A side’s captain is 30 years of age, and has won both the Serie A (2022/23) and Italian Cup (2019/20) since joining from Empoli in 2019.

He’s clearly a very useful asset, having scored twice and assisted eight times in all competitions this season from right-back.

But Il Mattino states he is ‘reflecting on his future’, and Villa are ready to capitalise on his uncertainty over whether he’d like to stay in Naples.

Indeed, the report states they want to make a ‘considerable offer’ for Di Lorenzo.

It is not clear exactly how much they would need or be willing to pay for him, but he is under contract until 2028, when he’d be 34.

Di Lorenzo is said to be ‘tempted by the possibility’ of playing in England, so the right offer could certainly see Villa snap him up.

Villans’ futures to be altered

If the right-back does sign, he’s likely to alter the futures of some existing Villa players. Ezri Konsa has played right-back 20 times this season, largely because of competition in the centre, but he’s starred there – even deputising at right-back twice for England – while also playing very well at centre-back when required.

As such, he’s likely to keep a place in the side, and might therefore be moved back to the centre to accommodate for Di Lorenzo, which could mean Matty Cash’s minutes are severely slashed.

If Konsa is to move back to the centre, one of Diego Carlos and Pau Torres will play less consistently, but Carlos has not played as much as the latter this season, and Torres has played left-back at times, so that might not be a huge issue.

However, with a lot of competition for the centre-back places, it could be difficult for Tyrone Mings to force his way back into the side.

After a lean spell at the start of last season, he got back to the top of his game when Emery came in, but was injured in the first game of this campaign, and Villa have coped expertly without him.

While he’ll feel hard done by if he cannot fight his way back in, with the amount of centre-back talents in the squad, there’s seemingly a chance that happens.

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